


In All The Years I've Known You

by painttheworldinpastels



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Growing Up Together, M/M, Skinship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-26 00:17:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19756699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/painttheworldinpastels/pseuds/painttheworldinpastels
Summary: Donghyuck has a habit of being touchy. Mark, as the boy who lived in the house across from Donghyuck's for who knows how long, has had to deal with this habit a multitude of times.





	In All The Years I've Known You

Donghyuck has a habit of being touchy. He'd cling to everyone, he'd hold any hand that's unoccupied, he'd seize every opportunity to plant a peck on anyone. Mark, as the boy who lived in the house across from Donghyuck's for who knows how long, has had to deal with this habit a multitude of times.

Mark honestly doesn't remember when it started; all he knows is that Donghyuck would assault him all the time when they were younger. Hyuck especially liked jumping on him in random places at the most inappropriate times; inside the daycare classroom while Mark was talking to the teacher (at some point in time the teacher didn't even pay it any mind anymore, ignoring Donghyuck wrapped around Mark whenever she called Mark over to give him a supposedly secret _excellent!_ with a smiley-faced star stamp for being extra good in class, unlike the boy on his back), in the park near their houses that they liked to frequent when Mark had just finished building a castle in the sandbox (he could only sigh dramatically and hope to not break any bones when he sees Hyuck's shadow looming over him), on Mark's bed while he was lying down on it and trying to get some rest (which always ended up with both of them on the floor, since Mark always shook Donghyuck off but Donghyuck also always had a tight grip on Mark). He'd attack from behind, forcing Mark to give the younger a piggyback ride or else he'll fall off (and Mark did not want to deal with the aftermath of Hyuck falling off, which would include one or more of the following: screaming, crying, and a scolding from adults).

(Sometimes Donghyuck would just wrap his arms around Mark's middle while he's sitting on the park swing, and he can't exactly start swinging with Hyuck holding on to him like that so he just lets Hyuck snuggle against him until he gets bored, which doesn't happen until around an hour later. Mark has to agree that it's the most behaved he'd ever seen Donghyuck though, so he doesn't object when Donghyuck does it again, and again, and again.)

Mark remembers one time when he was sitting on his couch watching a rerun of his favorite cartoon on a rainy afternoon, with Donghyuck fast asleep in his bedroom - or so he thought. One moment he was buried in the couch pillows and the next moment the pillows were shoved away and replaced with a small whiny creature who made himself comfortable by Mark's side. The small whiny creature, also referred to as a Donghyuck, poked and prodded at Mark's cheek to remove his attention from the television screen and to him instead, but Mark was determined to ignore him. He would have succeeded if Donghyuck hadn't started pinching him; Donghyuck bit his nails a lot so they were usually jagged, and they _hurt_.

"What," Mark snapped, but Donghyuck didn't even look apologetic. "The sky is crying," Donghyuck said with a straight face.

"And?"

"The sky is sad."

"And?" Mark was beginning to get tired of this game, and they've only just started.

Donghyuck sat up on his knees and brought his face close to Mark's. "The sky is sad, so I'm sad."

"So?"

Donghyuck was tired of this game too, Mark noticed, and Mark observed as frustration dawned on Donghyuck' scrunched up face.

"So make me happy."

Mark bristled. "Do I look like a clown to you?"

Donghyuck's frown got deeper. "Clowns don't make me happy."

"But I do?"

"Yes," Donghyuck answered shamelessly, and Mark was dumfounded. That was certainly unexpected.

"Mark-hyung, why are you red?"

"No reason." Mark cleared his throat and turned so he was facing Donghyuck completely. "Do you wanna hear a joke?"

Donghyuck's nose scrunched up. "No, your jokes are always bad."

"They're not! Listen, why did the chicken-"

"Tag, you're it!" Donghyuck abruptly pushed Mark down on the couch and took off running, leaving Mark on his back on the sofa with a frown on his face. He'd just read that joke yesterday and he was so excited to share it, but nonetheless he pulled himself upright to find Donghyuck (and force him to listen to the joke in its entirety).

When they were old enough to go to school by themselves, Donghyuck had found it reasonable to become Mark's permanent seatmate - at least on the bus on the way to school. Considering that Donghyuck was a year below him and he doesn't really see him that much anymore, Mark just let him be. He let Donghyuck talk his ear off every morning (and on afternoons when their schedules aligned and allowed them to go home together), let Donghyuck steal some of the snacks Mark's mother packed for him (he's sure his mom won't mind and sure enough she didn't when he told her; she even started packing some for Donghyuck too from then on), let Donghyuck rest his head on his shoulder whenever he looked tired (from studying or gaming, Mark doesn't ask). Mark and Donghyuck were aquaintances at best, certainly not good friends but not complete strangers either. That was the extent of their interactions, just Donghyuck being a minor inconvenience in Mark's life and daily activities. Mark almost felt like a babysitter, really.

This continued until middle school. From then on, Mark no longer felt like Donghyuck needed protecting; in fact, he felt like Donghyuck needing a whooping. Preferably done by him.

Maybe it was Donghyuck's friend Renjun who encouraged this sort of behavior because Renjun liked to rile people up as well, but Renjun always got away with it because he was cute and small. And since Donghyuck was also quite cute and small, maybe he thought he'd be able to get away with it too. (He did, most of the time.)

It started subtly, just a passing comment about how Mark smelled like he didn't shower or how terrible Mark's hair looked, but eventually it snowballed into full-on making fun of Mark's decisions (usually fashion-related ones) and the occasional mean comment on Mark's social media posts. Mark let it slide, throwing out an awkward laugh here and there, but the longer it went on the meaner Donghyuck got. They argued and bickered and flinged insults at one another, and during Mark's last year of middle school they weren't talking at all.

The weekend before Mark started high school, Donghyuck came barging into his room and barrelling into his bed, wrapping his arms around Mark and burying his head into Mark's chest. Mark could hear Donghyuck sniffling but since his arms were pinned to his sides, all he could do to comfort him was to awkwardly pat the small of Donghyuck's back, the only part of Donghyuck he could reach at the moment. He only broke free from Donghyuck's hold to hug him properly when he felt teardrops staining his shirt.

"I'm sorry, hyung." Donghyuck's words were muffled by the fabric of Mark's clothes, and Mark let out a chuckle to help lighten the mood.

"For what? For getting your snot all over me?"

He felt Donghyuck shake in his arms and whoops, that probably wasn't the right thing to say. "I'm sorry for that too, hyung I'm so sorry."

"Hey, no," Mark tried to pull away but Donghyuck clung to him tighter. "See? No snot. Don't be sorry for that, you can cry all you want. I don't mind."

Donghyuck rubbed his nose harshly before proceeding to rest his chin on Mark's shoulder, avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry, hyung."

Mark let out a soft hum and rubbed his back, waiting for him to continue.

"I'm sorry for being a menace and for making fun of you and for being a bigger devil than you say I usually am and for teasing you and for being a jerk and for making your life miserable and for telling you to shut up with the bible verses and for that time I put a whoopee cushion under your chair but no one was really surprised because you fart a lot anyway and you can't get mad at me for that. There's probably more things I did that hurt you but I literally can't breathe right now because my nose is clogged with snot so talking is really hard, and these were the first things that popped into my head, so I'm sorry for all of these and more. I miss you and I'm really sorry." Donghyuck's voice was a pitch higher than normal and a bit squeaky, and it took Mark everything in his power to not burst out laughing at the sound of it.

"You know that all the things you apologized for are just the same thing, right? An 'I'm sorry for being mean hyungie' would have been enough but nooo, you just had to be dramatic and enumerate instances wherein you have embarrassed me and degraded my existence." Mark meant it as a joke, but Donghyuck didn't take it as one and Mark felt a fresh wave of tears soak his sleeve.

"I was kidding!" Mark removed Donghyuck's face from his shoulder and wiped some of the tears away. "I was trying to lighten the mood, please don't cry, oh my god if my parents see you in my room with swollen red eyes I'll never hear the end of it."

Donghyuck shot him a watery smile. "Hyung, you have to stop making jokes like that, you're worse than Jeno."

"I won't anymore if you stop crying, okay?" Mark ran his fingers through Donghyuck's hair, watching the clumps of strands flop downwards and bounce a little on Hyuck's head.

"I'm sorry if you'll get into trouble because I'm crying. I can go now if you want, I just wanted to say sorry."

"Stop saying sorry. We haven't talked properly in almost a year and I don't want our first real conversation since then to be a mess of 'I'm sorry's over and over again."

Donghyuck nodded in response and rubbed his nose again. Mark reached over to grab some tissues from his bedside drawer and he gave them to Donghyuck, who accepted them gratefully as he pulled away from their tangle of limbs to blow his nose.

When Donghyuck was less weepy he scooted closer to Mark and laid his head on the same pillow Mark's head was on. Mark watched Donghyuck's eyes flutter shut, and he could hear Donghyuck's breathing slow. On any other day he'd let Hyuck drift off to sleep but he still had a question in mind and he himself wouldn't be able to sleep without knowing the answer.

"Donghyuckie." Mark gently shook him, and Donghyuck swatted him away like he would a fly. Mark huffed and shook him harder. "Hyuckie."

"Hyung," Donghyuck blinked his eyes open slowly, a scowl on his face. "I just finished a crying session and I'm very tired. How cruel and heartless could you possibly be, not letting a poor boy get some rest after being emotionally drained?"

Mark rolled his eyes and pinched Donghyuck's nose, cutting off his air supply. Donghyuck slapped his hand away immediately and grabbed some more tissues.

"Not so sleepy anymore, are you?"

"What do you want, hyung? Can't you attempt to murder me tomorrow instead?"

"You big baby, you won't die because of a pinched nose." 

"You deprived me of a thing I need to live! Air! A little longer and I could have died!"

"Shut up, if my parents come in here and overhear your exaggerated speech, I really will kill you."

"Then I'll haunt you and tell your parents all about the lollipop stash hidden in your bookshelf. Which probably isn't the best idea, what if ants get to it?"

"They won't, the pack is ziplocked."

"You're more concerned about your parents finding out about your candy corner than me haunting you?"

"You haunt me everyday, Donghyuck. You don't need to be dead for that."

"...I'll start crying again if you keep being mean to me."

"Please don't, and you're the one who keeps threatening me with tears so who's the real bully here?" Mark shifted so he was face-to-face with Donghyuck, who had his eyes closed and looked like he was already dozing off. Mark flicked his forehead and Donghyuck's eyes shot open, turning into slits as he glared at Mark. "What the hell do you want?"

"I have a question."

"Can't you ask tomorrow?" Donghyuck started to move away from Mark but Mark reached out to pinch his nose again.

"Okay, okay, I'm awake! What did you want to ask?"

"This is important."

"Wonderful. Now ask already or I'm gonna go sleep in your parents' room instead."

Mark paused, not knowing how to word it. After a few minutes of silence, Donghyuck groaned and grabbed a spare pillow, hugging it close to him. Mark saw that he was struggling to stay awake, and it warmed Mark's heart. If this happened a year before Donghyuck would have ignored him and went back to sleep, but now he was trying to become more attentive to Mark's thoughts and feelings. The glow-up is nice.

"Why did you apologize?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, why did you only apologize now? It's been a year, I thought you'd forgotten all about it."

Donghyuck looked at him intensely before shielding his face with the pillow. Mark scooted closer to pull the pillow away but when he had his hands on it he heard Donghyuck mumbling something.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Donghyuck let out an exasperated sigh and moved the pillow away from his face. "Someone asked me why I wasn't glued to you anymore." Donghyuck's eyes were sad and glassy, and oh boy, Mark was going to need more tissues after tonight. "They asked if I had a fight with my best friend."

Mark blinked slowly. "I'm your best friend?"

"I don't know? Sometimes I feel like it's Jeno, but you tick all the best friend boxes: you take care of me, you get me out of the stupid situations I get myself into, and you always have my back." Donghyuck grinned. "Plus, your parents love me more than you. That's like, best friend culture."

Mark rolls his eyes. "Well, your parents like me better too, so I guess we're even."

"So it's true?"

"Hmmm?" Mark reached out and Donghyuck slapped it away, probably thinking that Mark was out to attack his nose again, but Mark was reaching for the end of the comforter to tuck them both in snugly.

Donghyuck waited until they were both settled in before he talked again. "So it's true? Am I your best friend, hyung?"

Mark pursed his lips together. Technically he had better friends, friends his own age, friends who shower him with compliments even when he didn't deserve it, friends who didn't constantly remind him of the first time he attempted to make his own ramen and the disaster that came afterwards involving a small fire and the smoke detector going off. But if Mark examined the true essence of a best friend, the amount of love and unconditional support and guidance they provide, all Mark can see is Donghyuck sitting in the farthest corner of the bleachers to watch him play soccer in the school tournament that he was unfortunately roped into three months ago, holding a Mark banner over his being to hide himself from Mark's view, and leaving as soon as the game ended because they were still supposedly fighting. Mark remembered the birthday gift left on the dinner table from an unknown source, the box of chocolates that looked suspiciously like the ones Donghyuck helped his friends make every year on Valentine's Day on his school desk, the little "you can do it" post-it notes he found stuck in his papers when exam season rolled around with handwriting that was a carbon copy of Donghyuck's penmanship with his non-dominant hand. Mark remembered the umbrella he found in his locker on a rainy day the week after the start of his cold war with Donghyuck, with Mark being a person who forgets to bring an umbrella even though the weather forecast and his mother told him to and with Donghyuck being the only other person besides himself to know his locker passcode. Yes, Donghyuck fits the best friend bill, annoying but still one of the most important people in his life. 

"Yeah."

"Yeah?" Donghyuck grinned widely, teeth glowing the same color as the light of the streetlamps that filtered through Mark's window. "Yeah what?"

"Yeah, you're my best friend."

"Good." Donghyuck snuggled closer and Mark ran his hand through Donghyuck's hair repeatedly until he could hear his breathing slow.

Mark was about to slip into slumber when Donghyuck's voice echoed through the air. "Can I still annoy you though? As best friend privileges?"

Mark groaned. "Why?"

"Because it's fun."

"It's fun to see me get frustrated?"

"Yes, because your face scrunches up and you look really ugly when you get mad."

"...and this benefits you how?"

"Because it makes me laugh and it helps me gauge what things make you angry and upset so I can prevent other people from doing it to you! Only best friends get bullying privileges, you know. Anyone else who does it gets," Donghyuck pulled away briefly to curl his hand into a fist and catch it with his other hand, "pummeled."

"You're as threatening as mouse, Hyuckie."

"Mice are scary!"

"Sure they are." Mark let out a yawn and closed his eyes but was once again stopped from slumber by Donghyuck. "You forgive me, right?"

"Of course. As stated in Luke chapter 17 verses 3 to 4, 'If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you-'"

"Ooooh rebuke and repent, those are really big words, Marcurius. I'm surprised you know them."

Mark's nose wrinkled in distaste. "Never mind, I don't forgive you anymore. Get the hell out of my bed."

"No take-backsies!" Donghyuck burrowed himself deeper into the covers and Mark didn't make a move to shove him out, because he'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't miss how clingy the younger was. Instead, he turned to his side and watched Donghyuck's figure turn lax as he fell asleep. He observed as Donghyuck's breathing slowed down, as Donghyuck unconsciously nuzzled into Mark's pillow, as the moonlight hit his features just right and made him look delicate, a complete contrast to when he's awake. Mark followed into slumber soon after.

\----

Donghyuck's teasing never ceased but starting from then on it's mostly playful, and whenever he sensed that Mark is uncomfortable with anything he said he stopped immediately and switched to physical means. Mark didn't mind, in fact he would rather take Donghyuck's chin burying itself into his shoulder like a knife while he snuck a peek at some YouTube video Mark was watching over Donghyuck recommending him some strong perfumes "to mask the reek of laziness" whenever he was too tired to take a bath.

Though as time passes by, Donghyuck acquired a new move in his arsenal of Things That Distract And Annoy Mark Lee: plopping himself on Mark's lap. It's simple and easy to execute, so it became Donghyuck's go-to move. He does it while Mark's engaged in a television show, while Mark's busy working on his homework, Donghyuck even just randomly shows up and makes himself comfy on Mark's lap during breakfast on weekends, while Mark was still too sleepy to notice Donghyuck perched on him as he continued munching on some toast. Of course it gets annoying sometimes, especially when Donghyuck accidentally elbows a body part, but other than that it doesn't really bother Mark so he just let Donghyuck wild out with his affection in private. When they're in public, however, Mark made sure to at least pretend to struggle before letting Donghyuck use him as a chair. You know, in an attempt to salvage his slowly deteriorating street cred.

The only reason why Mark tolerates this skinship crap is because he knows he can't put a stop to it. The first time he'd snapped and told him to go away and leave him alone, Hyuck had stopped talking to him for a whole two weeks, avoiding eye contact and leaving the room whenever he saw Mark nearby. It took three packs of Donghyuck's favorite candy to get him to even look him in the eye, and it took who knows how many nights of cuddles to get Donghyuck to start acting normally around him again. Mark would strongly prefer to not go through that again, simply because doesn't have the money to buy him another couple packs of candy if Hyuck ever started sulking again. (He wouldn't mind giving the endless cuddles, but you didn't hear that from him.)

So he let Donghyuck sit on him and treat him like furniture even though there were a bunch of other places he could sit on. He let Donghyuck use him as a pillow and squeeze him to death, and he let Donghyuck maneuver him whichever way he wanted whenever they cuddle like a rag doll. Mark no longer shied away from the lingering touches and the overflow of affection. He finds that the best way to deal with Hyuck's tenacious nature is to be indifferent to it and to let him do as he wishes.

In time, he learns that he doesn't mind the closeness, as long as it's Donghyuck.

\---

Just like how he doesn't know when all this skinship started, Mark also doesn't know when he started reciprocating. He catches himself slinging an arm around Donghyuck, opening his arms wide whenever he sees Donghyuck barreling towards him for a hug, and pressing a goodnight kiss to Hyuck's forehead whenever he sleeps over. It's not even him who notices it - his friends are the one to point it out, commenting on how domestically gross Mark and Donghyuck have become one weekend while hanging out at Chenle's house/mansion.

Donghyuck and Jisung are going at it in Mario Kart, with Jisung splayed out on the couch and Donghyuck perched in Mark's lap on the very clean floor of the Zhong estate living room. Mark's scrolling through his Instagram feed, making small noises of acknowledgement whenever Donghyuck would tug at his sleeve and brag about blue shells. (To be honest, Mark has no idea what he's talking about, he doesn't even know how the damn game works even with the numerous explanations he's gotten over the years, but if he doesn't pretend to be happy for Hyuck at the very least he might end up being whacked and attacked and Mark did not want to accidentally like a post from five months ago by the music club president he was most definitely not stalking.)

Donghyuck angrily huffs and sets down the controller as the screen displays the words "GAME OVER", with Jisung hooting in victory. Hyuck playfully aims the controller at Jisung and Jisung sticks his tongue out, daring Hyuck to actually throw it at him when Mark grabs Hyuck's hand to stop him from doing anything rash, eyes glued to his phone.

Donghyuck being in Mark's lap doesn't surprise anyone anymore, but they're all shocked when Mark brings Donghyuck's hand to his mouth and kisses the back of it. Even Donghyuck is surprised, his eyes widening and darting around the room, locking gazes with his equally surprised friends.

"Don't break it, it's too expensive," Mark mumbles, his lips still pressed to the back of Hyuck's hand. He's still not looking at Donghyuck, still fixated on his Instagram feed. Donghyuck peers over to see him liking a video one of his favorite artists, and he presses closer to Mark's form. Mark gently lets go of his hand and wraps his arm around Hyuck's waist instead, shuffling so Hyuck's head is tucked in the crook of his neck, allowing him to freely see what he's doing on his phone. Donghyuck is still holding on to the controller, and Jisung, Renjun, Jaemin, and Jeno stare as Hyuck, still confused but not one to miss an opportunity to cuddle, sets it down and settles into Mark's arms.

"Mark-hyung," Jisung stutters as Donghyuck looks at him pointedly, not wanting Mark to realize how compromising their position currently is, "what are you doing?"

"Hm?" Mark hums, putting down his phone to look at Jisung properly. "Was there something you needed, Jisung?"

Jaemin looks at him accusingly. "Why are you canoodling with Donghyuck?"

Mark looks down at Donghyuck squished against him, not one bit surprised. "What do you mean canoodling? Donghyuck's been sitting like this for a while now."

"No? You manhandled me into this position!" Donghyuck glared at Mark and Mark snickers. "Please, I haven't manhandled you ever since I made peace with your clinginess."

"You just did? Hello? We have witnesses!" Donghyuck gestures to their friends still gawking at them, and Mark clicks his tongue in response. "Maybe you should get off me then."

"No, I like it here," Donghyuck grumbles as he snatches Mark's phone from where he'd set it down and punches the passcode in. "Who's that guy you were watching just now?"

Mark quickly grabs his phone out of Donghyuck's hands. "Which guy?"

"That music guy you like a lot? The producer guy? Why, who else were you stalki-"

"I wasn't stalking anyone! It was DJ Khaled, here," Mark closes the Instagram app and opens up YouTube, typing "dj khaled" into the search bar. "Listen to his music," Mark rummages around for his earphones and sticks one bud into Donghyuck's ear, keeping the other bud for himself. They both get sucked into the music video playing while their friends just awkwardly stare at them before deciding to mind their own business. Jeno sits next to Mark, taking Donghyuck's controller and challenging Jisung to another round of Mario Kart, which Jisung happy accepts.

"Mark-hyung never lets me cuddle him," Jaemin pouts as he settles on the couch next to Jisung.

Renjun shakes his head. "You're not persistent or maddening enough to claim Muddle rights."

"Muddle?"

"A Mark Cuddle."

"Ah," Jaemin looks back to Mark and Donghyuck, huddled together on the floor, with Donghyuck's attention focused on the screen and Mark's attention focused on Donghyuck. Jaemin watches as Mark pushes Hyuck's head so it's resting on his shoulder. It's intimate, and the gesture makes Jaemin feel like he's intruding into their private little bubble, so he looks away. "I guess not."

Chenle comes bouncing into the living room a couple of minutes later, the smell of ramen wafting behind him as he announces that the food is ready. They all pile into the dining area and when they each have a bowl of steaming, hot ramen ready, Donghyuck plonks himself down on Mark's lap. Mark threatens to pour his ramen on Hyuck's head if he spills any of his ramen on Mark, and Donghyuck lets out a loud cackle.

Again, it's not an unusual sight, but everyone else at the table eye Mark and Donghyuck warily. Chenle is bewildered. "Did I miss anything?" He whispers to Jisung.

Jisung eyes Mark and Donghyuck carefully, contemplating the way Mark wipes the soup off of Hyuck's chin, before patting Chenle's hand. "Nope, not at all."

\---

It happens naturally. One rainy day, they're lounging on the couch watching some romance flick Mark doesn't remember the title of. He and Donghyuck are huddled under a ratty blanket to keep them warm from the shower outside. Donghyuck is making snarky commentary and Mark laughs along as the main characters bumble around like idiots as they confess to one another, and the scene ends when one of the leads reaches up on their tiptoes to press a kiss to the other's cheek.

"That's not a proper kiss, c'mon," Donghyuck boos the screen.

"They can't kiss fully yet, isn't that a bit too forward? They literally just confessed to each other."

"Yeah, I get that, but that was barely a kiss! Not saying cheek kisses aren't valid but her lips barely grazed his cheek! Weak," Donghyuck reaches for the popcorn bowl but it's empty, and Mark is glad they'd finished all of it before this scene came along and made Donghyuck want to throw food at the screen. That would not have been fun to clean up.

"Think you can do better?"

"Duh, I'm Lee Donghyuck." Hyuck puckers his lips obnoxiously while Mark whips out his phone to check what time it is.

It's quite cliché, actually. Donghyuck aims for Mark's cheek but Mark turns his head unexpectedly, and the peck Donghyuck intended to land on Mark's squishy cheek ended up on Mark's lips. (Soft lips. Mark had made sure to put lip balm on for some reason that morning, and he is extremely glad that he did.)

He sees the surprise in Donghyuck's eyes, and redness creeps up Hyuck's neck. Funny, Donghyuck was never shy to show affection before.

Donghyuck scrambles away from Mark, and no, _absolutely not_ , Mark is not going to prolong his love story and watch it turn it into an extra long, angsty slow burn riddled with misunderstandings and pining. He's had enough of that. So he grabs onto Donghyuck's arm as he starts to bolt and tugs Hyuck towards him, enveloping him in a hug.

Donghyuck freezes as Mark fixes the blanket around them to cover them both snugly and they both continue watching the movie, no words between them as awkwardness surrounds them. When the characters finally get together and actually kiss on the mouth (in a quite disgusting manner, in Mark's humble opinion), Donghyuck curls in on himself in humiliation.

Mark pecks the side of Hyuck's head to get his taut body to relax. "It's fine, Hyuck, I know you didn't mean it."

Donghyuck opens his mouth but before he can say anything that would tip their relationship back into the bro-zone, Mark adds, "I wish you did, though."

"What?"

"I like you," Mark says, no longer willing to beat around the bush. Donghyuck just gapes at him, stunned into speechlessness, disbelieving. Mark cracks a small grin as he watches Donghyuck go through different emotions and responses at once. First he just stares at him, and then he moves to get away (Mark doesn't let him), and then he discreetly pinches himself. Mark pinches him too, and Donghyuck slaps his hand away with a frown.

"You're joking."

"I'm not. I like you a lot. Definitely more than this movie, more than summer days, more than sleep, more than watermelon."

"That's a pretty big compliment, considering how much you like watermelon." Donghyuck is still a bit skittish so Mark gently rubs his forearms, feeling goosebumps along Hyuck's skin. "And I like you too. A lot. For a long time now."

Contrary to popular belief, Mark isn't stupid or oblivious; he knows about Donghyuck's crush on him. It makes butterflies flutter in his stomach and it warms his heart, which is a very telling sign of reciprocation of feelings. But they're best friends, so Mark didn't act on it. Until today.

Mark smiles to himself. Who knew that a cheesy romantic comedy film would be the catalyst to get him to confess feelings he didn't even know he had? Certainly not Mark.

"So you like the hugs?" Donghyuck asks, his voice small. Mark tightens his grip on Hyuck. "Yeah."

"You like the kisses too?"

"They're my favorite," Mark mutters as he kisses the top of Hyuck's head. "You're my favorite."

"So what now?" Hyuck doesn't pull back, burying himself into Mark's chest to avoid looking him in the eyes. "We're still best friends, right?"

"Right." Mark taps Hyuck's chin gently to get him to look up, and he presses their lips together very briefly, lightly, like the flutter of a butterfly's wings. It makes the butterflies in Mark's stomach go on a rampage. "But now we're best friends who kiss and cuddle and all that icky stuff."

"Like boyfriends?" Hyuck's eyes are shining bright. The rain is still pounding hard, the sharp pangs on the windowsill audible even from so far away, but the erratic beating of Mark's heart is the only sound he pays attention to at the moment, along with Hyuck's silky voice flowing in his ears.

If he listens carefully, he can hear Hyuck's heart beating loudly as well.

"Like boyfriends."

***

Mark frowns down on the sofa, where Donghyuck is sprawled out with his phone held too close to his face. He's busy playing some game with a mic function that allows him to talk to Jeno and yell out directions. His hair is sticking up, in need of a combing, and he's wearing a shirt Mark thought had gone missing. In short, he looks cuddly. Very cuddly. Mark wants to cuddle.

But Mark won't get his cuddle until Donghyuck wins. Hyuck had iterated that over and over as he waited for Jeno to go online, despite Mark's best puppy dog eyes and Mark's poutiest pout.

Mark sighs heavily. Donghyuck is fluffy. Donghyuck is fluffy and it drives Mark insane because he just wants to cuddle with the fluffy baby but the fluffy baby doesn't wanna cuddle because he's busy playing games on his stupid phone with stupid Jeno. (Mark loves Jeno, he really does, but not at the moment, not when Jeno is the reason why the fluffy baby doesn't wanna cuddle.)

He considers just picking Donghyuck up and carrying him away for a cuddle session, but the last time Donghyuck lost this game he'd been grumpy for three days. Grumpy Donghyuck is still a Cute Donghyuck, but Grumpy Donghyuck doesn't like cuddles and only thinks about revenge. So Mark does the next best thing he can think of and flops his body over Donghyuck's on the sofa.

A labored "oof" comes from Donghyuck as Mark fixes himself so he's draped over Donghyuck's back. He can see the additional weight take its toll on Donghyuck, and he counts down until Hyuck finally rips his gaze away from his phone and groans, wriggling in an attempt to shake Mark off. "Get off me."

"Time for a Muddle!"

"Go cuddle with Jaemin, he's always complaining that you give me special treatment anyway." Donghyuck gets back to his game but only a couple of minutes later Mark sees Donghyuck's character die. Before Donghyuck can lament, Mark grabs his phone and makes to hide it somewhere. Donghyuck is not pleased and kicks Mark's shin. 

"Throw my phone and I swear to God I will throw you off this sofa, Mark Lee." 

Mark scoffs, "You can't do that."

Donghyuck raises an eyebrow at him. "If I can drag you into the ocean against your will, I can flip you wrestling-style so you'll fall back first on the ground. Do not test me, Lee."

"This wouldn't be an issue if you just cuddled with me, Lee." Mark waits for Donghyuck to admit defeat and spread his arms, and Mark swarms into them. He's found that being the little spoon is very, very nice, and in times like these he appreciates being the one swarmed in love after being ignored for (Mark checks his watch) three hours.

"Remember when I was the clingy one?" Donghyuck reaches for his phone again as Jeno's voice echoes through the speaker but Mark swiftly snags it, says a quick goodbye to Jeno which is met with protests from both Jeno and Hyuck, and drops it somewhere in the pile of cushions on the coach. Donghyuck frowns but he doesn't make a move to retrieve it.

"If I cuddle you for an hour, can I play again?"

"Depends. If you'll be playing for twelve hours straight like yesterday, I'll be needing an hour long cuddle per two hours of gaming to compensate."

"I hate you."

"Thanks, I'm pretty sure Jeno does too." Mark kisses the corner of Hyuck's mouth, turning his frown upside down. "But I still love you though."

"Ew."

"Ew?"

"Ew." Donghyuck says, but he's smiling and tracing his fingers along Mark's sides. Mark feels Hyuck's love for him spilling into the touch, casting tingles on his skin and joy into his soul.

"Maybe 'ew' can be our always."

"Shut up."

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this tweet](https://twitter.com/amibla/status/1131234020921028610?s=19)
> 
> Heard it was Markhyuck Month so I decided to drop this! uwu
> 
> twt: [@whatsavotingacc](https://twitter.com/whatsavotingacc?s=09)


End file.
